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MSc Program Engineering Management - A Taste of Industry 4.0

Engineering Management Class 2018-2020 at the labor with Prof. Kopacek and Julia

Engineering Management Class 2018-2020 at the labor with Prof. Kopacek and Julia

After an intense class on Production technologies on the 10th of December the Engineering Management professionals of the 18/20 batch visited the mechatronics and robotics Lab (IHRT-TU Wien) organized by Prof. Kopacek.

This gave us a bigger perspective on production and how mechatronics come into play to produce better results.


We began our tour by a brief introduction into the 3 generation of Production equipment. The example present in the Lab was lathe machines. The difference in the generation of equipment was evident through the manual lathe, semi-automatic lathe and the CNC machine. The working of the CNC machine was explained to us while designing a TU-Wien Badge using Aluminum work piece.


On the other side of the lab we were first introduced to a toy humanoid robot Billy. It showed us a few impressive moves pre-programed by the tutor Miss Julia. We were taught to program the robot ourselves to move as per our command using a simple software platform. The next robot we engaged with the Nickname “Blue Monster” was an Industrial robot. It had 6 joints of rotation which could be moved using a remote control. We were also taught on how to pre-program onto the remote control so as to make the Robot move in specific set coordinates to draw images on a piece of paper. Also integrating games like lifting the smurf and the game of labyrinth gave us a hands on feel on how this big machines is maneuvered and the various applications it can be implemented into.


We were briefly introduced to Prof. Kopacek’s Soccer playing robots which have won many world championships in the field of robotics. Through videos we saw their impressive performance in playing soccer as well as their synchronized movements to perform a dance routine flawlessly.
Along with the class on production technologies and mechatronics the lab was perfectly timed to teach us on real time feel of the current industrial trend. We sure now know what true Industrial 4.0 is and how the future of production industry looks like.

And it’s only getting more exciting!